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Atlanta Trip: Montana Grill

Atlanta is home to a lot of world famous brands, some of which includes CNN, Coca-Cola and Home Depot. Of that that’s one name that is associated with CNN, Ted Turner. Ted Turner is the founder of CNN. Among other things he is famous for once being married to Jane Fonda and the largest landowner in the US. You know what he uses all that land he has for? It’s to rear bison. He owns over 40,000 heads of bison — which makes him undoubtedly the owner of the largest bison herd in the world.

In the attempt to popularize bison meat, he opened about 50 restaurants called the Montana Grill which specialize in bison meat. We went to one at the Cumberland Mall.

The restaurant has this timeless look with mahogany paneling, and pendant lighting. There is also a very large bison head hanging up in the wall.

The table looked kind of busy but upon closer inspection, it’s just the normal sauces they have.

I started off getting a margarita called the Montana Margarita. I guess that would be a great choice because (1) it’s called Montana after the name of the restaurant and (2) it’s pricier than the other margaritas they server. The $8 margarita is described as 1800 Reposado tequila, Grand Marnier and freshly squeezed sour mix. Sure was a good choice.

They served us some pickled cucumbers. It was alright.

I had not planned to get any appetizers but seeing Rob’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo looking so good, I got one for myself. I had thought that gumbo is basically stew served over rice but this one is rice over stew. For $5, it was great.

Their menu had a great selection … with items like cedar plank salmon, beer can chicken, and slow roasted pork, I wished I could try all of them. There will be other trips for sure. But for now, I’ll settle for their signature dish, the bison meat.

I chosed their 14 oz Delmonico Ribeye. Delmonico refers to that cut of steak which is boneless top sirloin … thick with marbling. It is seared and brushed with lemon butter … and cooked medium rare, this is some of the most marvelous steak I ever had. I had expected the meat to be tougher than beef but surprisingly it was tender.

Alrighty … that’s the last of my series of my recent trips to Atlanta. I am going to get off my soapbox right now and pass it on to Suanne. She had a few recipes she wanted to share from her cooking clubs. I bet after almost two months of travel blog, I am sure some of you are looking forward to recipes!